Okami: Blood Moon
by MissDevAsshole2U
Summary: A lone wolf who believes all Okami life has been extinct comes across another lone wolf after years of solitude. A new blood who cannot control her inner wolf nor the side effects of Okami blood get's dominated by a stranger who just came into town.
1. Okami Prince

**A/N- I like wolf tales they're very mystic creatures to me. I hope you enjoy. Please REVIEW whether it be bad or good, I'll be reading it regardless. Thanks for your views :) have a nice night. **

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><p><em><strong>X3X3X3<strong>_

_**PROLOGUE**_

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><p>"Mother, I do not want to do this."<p>

Morning crept upon him without so much as a warning and he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night. Laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, he had allowed his mind to overwhelm him again with thoughts he couldn't quite shove away.

"Mother, I don't want to do this."

He explained once more in the same low husk.

He watched his mother run from wall to wall of his room. Pushing back curtains and invading every piece of clothing that he had discarded on the floor the night prior. He always thought that she could be such a bother when her mind was set on something.

Why couldn't she be like the other moms and ignore his very existence, thus starting a book club and having concerns for herself.

He was nearly a grown man, not a little cub that she need be doting over. It was pathetic to him how much she tried to coddle him. He towered over her and she could barely embrace him as she once had but that never seemed to deter her feeble attempts.

He often made a fuss about it but not as often as he would have liked. He always felt obligated to please her, after all they had both been through a great deal of pain and he supposed it wasn't a crime on some instances to let her love him.

She was all that had been left of their former life.

"Up and at em, the sun is upon us and today is the day of discovery."

"You always say that, you know what I've discovered? I discovered that today is the same day as the last...and the day before that."

He chortled a bit, staring at her and she chastised him with a simple shake of her head. She pointed at him and with a flick of her index finger directed him to get up. He sighed and stretched out his stiff limbs.

His bones popped viciously beneath his bare flesh and his eyes wandered over his sweat glistening body. There were lengthy gashes ranging down his abdomen and beneath his pecs. He quickly snatched up his bed sheets to cover his nude form with a sigh of aggravation.

"Nothing I haven't seen before." His mother teased him with a grin that shook her bottom lip. He rolled his eyes and sat up in bed, still shielding what shred of dignity he had left he twisted towards the window and hunched over raking his nails through his long thick hair.

"Mother I don't want to do this."

"Brush you hair Sasuke," she snapped at him." everyone will be watching you and looking up to you as-"

"Don't...say it." he hissed quietly.

Mikoto Uchiha shrugged, yanking back the top dresser and pulling out a black robe to examine. She opened up the garb and held it over her head with a smile.

It was in this moment that this became one of the days where he could feel his fathers absence more keenly. His mother had always cling to the likeness of he and his father but it had been days like these where she made it her duty to remind him that, just like his father, everyone would be expecting too much from him.

"Can I have a moment alone, surely you trust me enough to dress myself."

His mother sighed in exasperation but placed the robe down on his cot. He looked over his shoulder and spotted the helplessness in her wary eyes. For as long as he could remember his mother had always looked at him with a criminal amount of love and patience. He hadn't been the most reliable of her children and he had proved again and again why but it did little to make her completely throw in the towel.

She hadn't been ready to watch him throw his birthright away though he had every intention to do just that.

He never wanted anyone's acceptance, he never dreamed bigger than his mind could wander.

He didn't think he was capable.

"It won't be long now." she reminded him softly, her lips quirked up in a reassuring grin that did little to subside the gradual tension.

He nodded. "I'll be ready." he assured her.

"Hurry, I'd like to tend to your wounds they're unsettling." had been her last words as she pulled up the hem of her long billowing white gown, striding towards the door. The back of the gown still dragged across the wooden floor.

Once the door closed he fell back down on the cot and stared at the ceiling.

The dreaded day was upon him.

The pack had gone too long without an Alpha. They had lost many, killed many and people were scared and worried about a complete extinction.

Genocide of the Okami race.

It may have seemed selfish but he didn't want that responsibility, that blood on his hands and conscious.

He could barely take care of himself and now because of some fight his wolf won he had to become a leader. He had been losing sleep for days since the ordeal took place. Sacrifices occurred during the fight for alpha and he didn't want to be just another wolf lying dead in the forest because he failed to defend himself.

Unfortunately he had defended himself too well and unknowingly became the hope for a clan much older than he himself. There were plenty of men qualified for the part but many of them were far too old to tussle with the younger blood so they refused to fight. He recalled himself trying to declare his disinterest but at his age it had been required for him to participate.

Reluctantly he joined with the intentions of running as far away from the death brawl as he could but the moment he changed the hopefuls perused him relentlessly with no intentions of reasoning. He could either let them kill him or fight and he chose to do what it took to come out of it alive, while, still of course trying to put distance between the death fest.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it but all of the blood shed seem to drag him deeper and deeper into the fray and before he could control himself he had indulged in the deadly taste of power. He over powered the masses, snapping his jaw viciously at his brothers and sparing none.

He could still hear his wolfs snarls and thunder-like guttural. The whimpering pleads of young whelps that he slaughtered.

Children were killed and yet the next morning their mothers lowered their head towards him and congratulated him.

Overwhelmed with the feeling of guilt in shame he sought no forgiveness in that gesture and assume that many would fake their allegiance to him. He had always wondered how his father dealt with the burden.

He couldn't quite stomach the brutality of his title.

Sighing, he stood to his feet, the wool blankets fell around his ankles.

His whole life he was always the carefree one. His father led the pack to many victories and had been respected by all, people never seemed to fear him but there was no mistaking the looks of fear when they looked to him.

He never even wanted the title.

He never wanted any of this.

"Psst, well well well." Someone whistled and he spotted a girl watching him, the door slightly ajar.

He may have hidden himself from his mother but he never hid away from a girl his own age. He was certain that she had been more disturbed than he.

"Would it kill you to knock? That looks to be the case." he informed the blond haired woman at the door. Her hair was a mess, her clothes a stench of poverty.

She snorted.

"Would it kill you to EVER wear clothes...every time I see you you're stark naked, must be an alpha thing...always thinkin your hot stuff."

He rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if you knocked I'd have time to put on clothes."

"There's no time for that, I have news."

Ino Yamanaka had been a stray, her old clan had been wiped out by hunters and the pack came across her wolf, injured near a creek. As a young children they were raised together like siblings mostly because his mothers sister had looked after Ino since they day they crossed paths.

"What's up?"

"Ok, so you know how we're on the run from extinction from the hunters?"

Sasuke nods thoughtlessly, leering at her as he pulls a shirt over his head, messing up his disheveled hair further.

"Since you're gonna be top dog now I want to run it by you...and tell you that, maybe the key to existing is...blending in, you know, with society." she said, plopping down on the cot guiltlessly with a furrowed brow. "You know what I mean, no alienation from humans, no boundaries just blending in..."

Pulling his underwear up his legs he uninterestedly nodded at her.

"Well I'll consider that if they even listen to me. The rules of the pack are already established there's no way these old timers are gonna listen to a thing I say." He argued.

She scoffed.

"Your coronation as Alpha entitles you to have a say over any and everything so don't pretend your opinion wont change anything..." she looked into his eyes and tilted her head. "...your opinion will change everything."

Shrugging nonchalantly he knew everything she had been saying was right. No one questioned the alpha. It was a rule that dated all the way back in ancient history. Being banished from the pack would be the ultimate punishment.

A lone wolf in the wild was destined to die. All wolves sought a home and protection, security.

"Ok." he said shrugging. "...I'll look into it but give me a break I'm not in charge just yet."

"Oh my gosh, I'm beginning to really think...this whole alpha thing is going to change you."

He scoffed.

"Whatever.."

"That devil-may-care attitude may work on all of the other pretty wolves out here but I know you're not a devil and I know what happens to this pack really concerns you."

"Whatever." he murmurs. "...you should tuck tail and run before I get naked again."

She hisses at him threateningly and he smirks, nudging his head towards the door.

"Get out." he says sternly.

"I'm goin, I'm goin." she hops up and scurries towards the door, she twists around and for the briefest moment they get caught up in an awkward stare.

Sasuke reaches for the hem of his shirt threateningly and she holds a hand up to stop him.

"Cut it out." she laughs hoarsely. "...I just wanted to say, for the bitch brawl...I'll try my hardest to win."

He frowned, perplexed by her confession.

"What-why?"

She grinned.

"I refuse to let someone else boss you around as her husband and besides none of these girls look right at your flank."

"Oh but you do?" he taunted.

She held her head high as if she were valiantly holding back her temper. Her lashes fluttered with every blink and she twisted around for the door.

"I'll see you at the coronation."

"Cya." He answered still puzzled by the confession that she wanted to be at his side. He had never thought of her in that way, in fact, most girls in the pack didn't seem to turn him on in any way possible.

He had been more attracted to them in wolf pelt then he had been in their human form. However pelt or not, there always seemed to be a gaggle of females willing to follow him during a midnight run.

He never once sought out their company or question their discerning interest but he always noticed.

"Sasuke...what's taking so long." his mother called from the living room.

He sighed.

"I'm just about done...maybe next time not let insane wolves in."

"W-"

She never finished what she would say.

That day, a hunters cry pierced the village and his world was set ablaze.


	2. Summertime Sadness

**A/N- Sakura's POV and it's Ten Years later since the first chapter. Please review or critique if you can. Thanks for reading. **

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><p><strong>X3X3X3<strong>

**Summertime Sadness**

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><p><em>Ok Palmer...what's on the schedule today?<em>

A young girl prodded her blackberry insistently while lounging in bed. She tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ear and pouted her lip at the luminous screen and shook her head.

"This just won't do." she uttered disapprovingly at her calendar.

Since the day she could afford to buy a cellphone Palmer had always filled her days with plans and activities. Whether it had been work, school or volunteer work she never ceased to be bored or disappointed.

That is, until today, a day that allotted leisure.

It had been the wake of Summer break though it wasn't quite obvious nor sincere based on the weather.

She slipped out of bed with a halfhearted yawn. Her hair lay heavily on her back as she staggered to the window to stare out at the sky.

There was a nasty deluge of rain, the sky was pale and a smog of dark clouds contaminated the city ominously. The wind was thrashing about the neighbors flags and screen door.

"Oh you're up early."

"I'm always up at eight sharp, what's your excuse."

She looked over her shoulder, her fingers still holding the curtains askew.

Hinata Hyuga stood in the doorway of her cousins room, which once used to be the guest room in the Hyuga household.

"Just checking to see if you're ok..."

Sakura smirked at her cousin and turned away to stare out the window.

"Couldn't be better, when the rain let's up, I think I'll take a trip to the grocery store we're out of-damn near everything."

"Hm, you could do that or..." she lingered with the last word. "...you could throw caution to the wind, pack up a cute little bikini and go to Suna with me today."

Sakura looked over at her cousin with a raised brow.

"Suna, what awaits me there that isn't here?"

"For one thing, the weathers splintering hot and they've got a beach." she urged, dancing into the room with her pajama shorts and halter top. She wore knee high socks and her long indigo hair had been pinned into a high bun.

The peach haired girl scoffed at her cousins behavior and crossed her arms. Staring at the small girl, she always admired her cousins features more than she had her own. She had the look of pure innocence that seemed to deceive the eyes of everyone, mostly her dear aunt. She had always remained ambivalent towards her cousins charms.

"Suna is quite a ways away cousin...your mo-"

"On one of her business trips...as usual, we'll be back long before her mind thinks to call us." Hinata interrupted her as a matter-of-factly. She plopped down on Sakura's bed and folded her arms over her chest.

Sakura was shaking her head, trying to dismiss the very thought of disobedience. Though it happened more often than not, Hinata's rash decisions had a way of landing them both in displeasing situations that often resulted in punishment and consequences.

She gripped palmer tightly in her hands and crossed her arms with a frown of perplexity. She began to paste back and fourth with a small chuckle.

"What else are you doing?" Hinata goaded her fiddling with the fringe at the ends of her shorts. Her dark brows fell heavily over her eyes and she seemed engrossed in her task.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Nothing yet but there are plenty of things to do here in Konoha, shopping is one of them, I don't have much but there's enough in my savings for a few nonperishables."

Hinata burst out into chronic laughter and Sakura halted with a quirked brow.

"What's so funny?"

"You!" she managed to sputter through her tear inducing laughter. Her small body shook as she tried to stifle the tickle. "You're the only teenager I've ever met that plans out every day of her life on that stupid phone and for what? How is that living?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at her cousin, noting that her behavior had been immature to say the very least. So, she wasn't like most kids her own age but most kids her age hadn't lost as much as she had.

Her heartbeat felt a bit constrained but only because this had been the first time Hinata had pointed out a flaw that she had already been aware of. The knowledge that she had been different had never came as a shock to her but when other people reminded her it sometimes made her feel like there was something wrong with her.

Instinctively she clutched palmer even tighten, feeling the phones sleek design comfort her aching fingers. She stared long and hard at her cousin and sighed.

"Then you should be relieved to know that I wont be accompanying you to Suna, I'm just gonna stick around here." her voice was unsteady, her vocals a bit hoarse. Hinatas rolled her eyes with resolve and stood to grab Sakura's hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm stupid...I just want us both to have the summer to remember, instead of rotting around this dump...you know?"

Sakura nodded in assent. Prior summers she had spent doing community work or joining a school based group just to pass the time by until school began again. She had never bothered to ask Hinata to join her. Her cousin seemed more content with her friends and boyfriend.

Unlike Sakura, Hinata had gone through life without a care in the world, unbound by the things that seem to plague her everyday.

At times she envied her resilience.

Sakura shook allowed their linked hands to swing back and fourth.

"You should go without me."

"B-"

Sakura squeezed her hand tightly and made sure their eyes were connected, she smiled to drive away Hinatas doubts.

"I." She enunciated harshly. "...want you to take plenty of pictures for me and I want you to be happy with your friends, that'll make me happy."

Hinata shook her head dubiously.

"Why can't you just allow yourself to have fun? Come with me, I promise, you won't regret it Suna is beautiful."

Sakura laughed nervously, her heart thrashing frantically in her chest. She tried to swallow back a lump in her throat. Thing seemed to be getting awfully personal and she knew that if the subject was pushed any further.

It would be like taking one giant step back, to the first day she arrived at the Hyuga residence. Lost, alone and afraid after her parents death.

She fought to maintain her composed manner and chuckled at Hinata.

"Just because my fun doesn't seem fun to you doesn't make it any less fun." She says, trying to come off as genuinely as she could. Her eyes felt like they would spill over and the feverent need to escape this situation became more and more dire.

With a shaky breath she shook her cousin good naturedly.

"Go on." she assured. "I'll hold the fort down here and if your mom calls I'll be here."

Hinata seemed reluctant to let it subside but not once did Sakura lower her eyes and because of that, she knew that her cousin understood.

She nodded grimly.

"Ok but if I'm going to go to take pictures, you're going to take pictures too and none of those Eco friendly activities or big sis programs...I wanna see you really having fun."

For lack of words Sakura simply laughed, a sound that she couldn't quite identify as real or fake.

Her chest felt tense and her mind a blur.

"Deal, deal." she insisted.

Hinata squealed.

"Thank you so much, I wont forget this, you're the best robot to two legs." she quipped, with a fleeting hug. "..I'm gonna go pack and call Naruto and oh my god, we're goin to Suna!" She chirped.

The peach haired girl held up a thumb at her cousin and slapped her hip.

"Bring me back a souvenir."

She called after her but Hinata had already danced her way out of the room and down the hall. Sakura stood in the wake of her excitement and stared down at Palmer.

Pulling the phone to her face she opened up the calendar and her fingers dashed nimbly across the keyboard to program her activities of the day.

**_Compose Grocery list. _**

**_Commence Grocery shopping. _**

**_Prepare dinner. _**

_**Sleep.** _

It hadn't been as elaborate of a plan as Palmer was accustomed to but it was enough to get her through the day.

Any plan was better than no plan.

No plans gave way to open thoughts.

Open thoughts that couldn't be suppressed once they began to grow.

With a deep breath she twisted around on the heel of her foot and pecked palmers screen with conviction.

"What would I do without you?"

It was true, she relied on palmer a criminal amount but she wasn't certain that her memory would suffice. Since she had first turn up on the Hyuga's doorstep with child services there had been many gaps in her memory as to what had occurred the night of her parents death.

The only thing she knew for certain was that her parents had been killed.

How?

She had been told a number of stories but none of the witnesses had been close enough to actually swear on their lives regarding the scene.

She had recalled instances of that night but her mind couldn't recover the most important parts.

Her parents death hadn't been the only thing her mind chose to shut out.

There were times when she would wander to places and forget why or experience a wide rage of emotion and suddenly not feel bothered at all.

She recently began running, in place of her bike and there were times when she could get around town without her reading glasses.

Uncertain of her ill behavior, she assumed that she was merely undergoing some type of...

"Super puberty." She chuckled, venturing to her closet.

Though she was certain it had all been a conspiracy in her mind, the facts did nothing but assure her that something bigger was upon her.


	3. Fade

**A/N- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! I'm very excited that you're all excited and it cheers me up to read them in between classes. I truly appreciate the support and the interest. 3 You people are the best. **

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><p><strong>X3X3X3<strong>

**Fade**

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><p><strong><em>Palmer diary log. (Summer-Day1)<em>**

_-Saw Hinata and Naruto off at the airport. She left for Suna. _

_-Prepped a shopping list_

_-Took the bus to the Grocery store_

_-Arrived back home, stocked food away, prepared a simple dish of mac n cheese. _

_-Watched an 'I love Lucy.' Marathon_

_-Heard a coyote howl in the distance_

_-Blacked out(probably fell asleep) _

_- awaken several times in the night by that obnoxious coyote howl_

_-Managed to sleep eventually_

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><p>Sakura sat at the tidy table in the kitchen with an aqua coffee mug pressed to her gaping lips. She wasn't sure which drove her crazier; the paralyzing silence or being the only inhabitant within the four walls. She hadn't been left to her own devices in a long time. The feeling of freedom was a vague concept for someone who hadn't been alone since she had moved into the hyuga's home.<p>

Her aunt had been very adamant, since she arrived, about ever letting her face things alone. Sakura was sure that she had only been trying to make up for the distance her parents had made between the other half of the family or atone based for the guilt of letting her sister slip through her fingers without so much as a goodbye.

Sakura could see it in her aunts guilt ridden eyes, every time their eyes met. There was something, she didn't dare bring to light but Sakura lacked the tenacity for that sort of knowledge.

The young girl stared down at Palmer, who lay flat on the glossy oak wood table, it's screen void of light and vitals. She didn't need to check the schedule, she had looked it over more than enough times to know it by heart. It had been engraved into her memory the very moment she programed it in the night prior.

She blew patiently into the contents of the mug and the pungent aroma of cocoa aroused her nostrils and taste. She tipped the cup up slightly and took a few cautious sips, before greedily licking the residue from her lips.

Placing the cup down subconsciously, she reached over the table to pick up Palmer.

The phone greeted her fingers coldly, she began to wake it with a nagging poke of her thumb. The phone vibrated to life in an instant and a default ringtone flourished about the empty house.

Instinctively her eyes winced up to decipher the caller I.D just before they relaxed.

She remembered she hadn't been wearing her glasses for a whole week now but knowing did very little to prevent her from wincing, pressing her middle finger to the bridge of her nose or worrying that if she tipped her head down too low they'd fall to their demise.

**_INCOMMING CALL.._**

**_Aunt. I_**

Palmer hummed urgently, gradually climbing up the levels of irritation.

Sakura sighed and tossed back her head before giving Palmer the green light. Tucking her hair behind her ear she pressed the phone tightly to her face.

"Hey Aunt Yam..."

She could hear a disturbing amount of bustling and indistinct chatter before her aunts breath blew into the mic.

"Goodmorning, at least one of you has answered their phones. Are you girls alright?"

Fiddling gingerly with the table mat she shrugged to herself and nodded before realizing that it required her vocals to answer.

"Yeah, we're totally fine...Hinata hasn't woken yet."

"I figured, that girl would sleep through judgment day." She laughed lightly, a breathless laugh amongst the relentless background noise of people. She was probably commuting about Amagakure. She had left behind the keys to the car on most business trips.

There was a lingering silence between them, with only the background noise to fill the space.

Never knowing the right things to say, Sakura remained mute. Her aunt cleared her throat firmly and sighed.

"I know I've left the both of you at home plenty of times so I should've been jaded to the novelty of it all by now but-I just like to make sure, that you both are ok."

Sakura grins a bit at her aunts concern. It had always been an unspoken thing between them but hearing her voice on the other end of the phone made the young girl realize that she had seemed quite worried for whatever reason.

"Well I assure you." She promised. "..we're just fine and we'll be here when you get back, we always are."

"Awee." She crooned with an even longer sigh. "...don't let Hinata sleep in too long, she's a sneaky one...and if you're planning on leaving the house to go anywhere make sure you're back home by nine. I'll be calling to the house phone next time, initiating, mama-patrol. You tell your conspirator that."

Sakura chuckled.

"I'll let her know."

"Ok, well hon this is my stop...you girls try and enjoy your summer. Don't do anything the lord wouldn't do and keep it in the pants." she demanded. "...that message is more aimed towards my daughter than you but just the same. Be careful, be vigilant..."

"Gotcha."

Sakura said quickly, her erratic heart thrumming rapidly for reasons she couldn't even began to fathom.

"I love you both."

"Love you too, see ya soo-"

"Hey Sak?"

"Yes..."

"No matter what, keep Hinata close..."

The peach haired woman furrowed a brow.

_Much too late for that. _

She thought to herself, nodding against the phone before sighing.

"We'll be fine."

The line went stark quiet for the briest moment and Sakura had pulled the phone from her face to examine the caller ID.

_Did the call get dropped. _

"Aunt Yam?...Hello...Aunt?"

"Yes, I'm here. Anyway Hon, I love you both...give Hina a kiss for me and I almost forgot, Happy Birthday."

_Happy Birthday?_

"When I get back we could plan a day of festivities, I know you'll both like that."

_My birthday, no, no-there's no way I could f-f-forget._

"What...my birthday..." visibly bewildered she wasn't quite sure she heard her right.

Her aunt chuckled and scoffed.

"Yes, your birthday, you're far too young to forget such a milestone...check Palmer if you don't believe me. Gotta hustle, buh bye."

She said fleetingly before the phone had gone dead.

In a daze of complete stupidity, Sakura remained frozen with the drone of the dial tone buzzing in her ear.

_N-no...this, b-but today, no, I'd never forget.._

Even as she argued with herself over and over she knew that she had slipped up on many momentous occasions before and relied on Palmer to preserve her sanity.

But this was the day of her birth.

In a trance of curiosity, she disconnected from the call completely and clumsily her fingers prodded Palmer. She pulled up the calendar and ran her fingers down to the current date.

There it was.

In red darker than blood.

_My birthday, 17 years old. _

She swallowed feeling a flush rush to her head. Her fingers trembled and she Palmer collapsed down on the table.

_Wh-what is this-_

She pulled her legs up into the chair and hugged her knees to her chest. Tucking her face behind her forearms she stared blindly at the table consumed by her inner thoughts and shot through memory.

_What the hell is wrong with me...I-I forgot...I-am I losing my mind..._

Trying to blank back the burning tears boiling inside her sockets she worked to focus on what she knew.

"No." She muttered weakly through trembling lips. "...no, there is nothing wrong."

Though her memories seemed so vague to her she never seemed to forget, the first time she uttered this lie to herself before.

"There is nothing wrong." She repeated this mantra thoughtlessly, staring at nothing, wanting nothing.

Everything was nothing and the thoughts in her head scurried until they found a place to hide.

She still hadn't collected half her thoughts when the door bell made her heart jump and then cease up. She nearly fell out of her chair, her reflexes guiding her hands to clutch the ends of the table quite nimbly.

Thankful for the distraction she climbed off the chair and veered for the door. Her skin crawled with an uneasy feeling but she resisted the urge to give into whatever tricks her mind had began to play on her.

_Plenty of people forgot their birthdays, this doesn't mean anything...I stopped caring about my birthdays eons ago._

She argued with herself.

Forgetting to ask who it had been, she twisted the knob and jerked back the door. The person behind it wouldn't have been her first guess as to who it might have been.

He smiled at her blood stricken face.

"Sass..."

"Sakura."

Her name seemed to roll provocatively off his tongue as though her name had been a foreign language that he felt compelled to whisper reverently.

"Sorry, Hinata isn't here."

He had been arrayed in his usual low-key style. A black V-neck shirt with skinny jeans, personalized holes torn at the knees and a pair of chucks. A strap clang tightly to his chest, his guitar swung from his back.

Face as composed as ever he pointed a chipped polished nail at me.

"So that means your alone?"

Her eyes widened and she laughed nervously.

"She'll be back soon, in case you want to wait, in your car."

She didn't mean to come off so defensively but being a social pariah didn't guarantee many social skills. Cordial, she could do. Tact, she could do but holding a full blown conversation proved to be a much more complex affair.

Especially with someone she had once had a legendary crush on.

Sasori made a hissing noise and bit his lip.

"Ouch..."

He genuinely sounded hurt but she had always known most kids her age to be amazing actors with talents that could crush the most unforgiving critic.

"I'd let you in but my aunt will kill me, I'm convinced she has nanny cams and fox traps rigged all over the place."

He shrugged.

"There's no point in getting you killed then, right?"

_What an odd thing to say. _

Her skin felt like goose flesh. The weather hadn't cleared up much since yesterday. The sky still seemed cluttered with vicious storm clouds, the wind blew steadily.

She tried to meet his eyes but only came close to staring at his nose.

"Right.." she said hesitantly.

"I wasn't here for Hyuga anyway,I was sort of wondering, do you wanna go grab a bite at Ichiraku's with me?"

_Wh-what the hell is going on here._

Today seemed to go from one extreme to the next, like a test of her character.

She had plans, Palmer, was programed with every task she needed to complete. Albeit she had been off to a rocky start and devastatingly behind in her activities, she wasn't fond of detours or unorthodox write-ins.

Taking that kind of route could completely make her forget and she wasn't willing to relapse.

Not for whatever this was.

_Why...are you doing this?_

She wanted to inquire but her tongue was too heavy to slither out that question.

Her face felt stiff and she was certain that it must've been contorted into something inexplicable. Her eyes had fallen back down to his fingers and he waved them around to command her attention. His footing a bit anxious, he seemed to step forward with one foot and then repeat the same action with the other foot.

"I-I can't, I have a lot of errands to run...I-I'm sorry."

"Hmph." He scoffed with a gentle laugh, he patted her head as if she had just told a mildly amusing joke. "Don't be, the invitation is yours for the taking should you choose to join me tomorrow."

She nodded, her mind a far cry from considering his proposal. Sasori had never thought twice about her though the school year. Hinata had warned her that summer seemed to make most boys forget about any reputation you held in school and they came on strong in hopes to get laid and live to brag about it the next school year.

He may have been her crush, he may have completely been close enough to steal a kiss but if knowing that kiss would lead to rumors that would haunt her the entire school year. She could manage to avoid him at any cost.

Her name had been whispered enough through the halls of school.

Sasori seemed to read her face of unrest and step backwards a few time. He winked at her.

"Nice seeing you outside of school."

"Likewise." she lied.

A frown dented his brow and he paused.

"I guess, seeing you last night, it caught me off-guard."

_Last Night?_

"What?" She inquired stepping past the threshold and onto the steps.

He raised a brow, shouldering his guitar case with a small nod.

"It's none of my business what you do but you seemed a bit strung out. Was gonna follow you home, make sure you were alright but I lost sight of you."

_Wh-what...wa.._

Her breath hitched and she stared at the pavement, rumbling around in her mind looking for an answer. She began to laugh in spite of the panic spawning beneath her flesh.

"It was me, I don't-I do-"

"Look. I may have a over active imagination but there's definitely no mistaken anything about you...I saw you."

_I saw you._

Those words seemed to condemn her and she wasn't ever sure why guilt seemed to make her anxious in that moment as though she had been caught preforming some sort of pornographic ritual.

_Was I?!_

She walked quickly descended down the stairs, perplexed. She stared into his eyes.

"W-what was I doing...d-did you speak to me?...Did-I speak to you.."

The light red haired boy simply gave a crooked smile, though his calm demeanor didn't quite make it look all that comforting.

"How about we talk it over, during a meal."

Sakura frowned at him.

"Did you really see me last night?"

He nodded earnestly.

"Every piece of you."

He said in the deepest, most quietest tone.

Closing her eyes for just a moment she balled her fist at her side and then twisted around sharply on the toe of her boots.

"I'll be right out."


	4. Calling

**A/N- Sorry for the late update and it is a very short one as well. :{ So many Christmassy things going on and school. I hope you enjoy and review. The next update will be very soon. **

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><p>She had never seen someone eat more unattractively in her life than Sasori and yet she couldn't have been more rude by choosing to acknowledge this fact with a pressingly guiltless stare. There was something oddly alluring about the way he viscioiusly ate his weight in ribs that both alarmed and compelled her. She was certain that he wasn't the least bit shy about it, which made the whole ordeal that much awkward. She squeezed Palmer and stared at him pointedly, arms crossed, opposite side of the booth.<p>

Sucking on a barbecue drenched bone he stared back complacently before poking the air in her direction with his new wand, the clean bone.

"Lost your appetite?" He inquired with a twitchy smirk, that had left his face before she could fully accept it as something more than a spasm.

"I didn't come to eat with you, you said..." she froze realizing her voice had irritably climbed several octaves of panic.

Her fingers trembled without cause.

Sasori held up a finger to stall her, he snagged up the last rib that had once been apart of an abundant family whom he had slaughtered within the five minutes that they had arrived. He offered it, waving it in front of her eyes with a gentle scoff.

"Eat this and we can talk about whatever you want, those were the terms after all..." he reminded her offering her the rib almost as though it were a peace offering of some kind.

She had never been fond of foods that oozed with greasy substances then again she usually avoided dining at an establishment like Ichirakus. From the obnoxiously loud customers, to it's variety-less menu and it's health code violations it seemed to be a type of place that only daredevils dined in. The bathroom alone had been the biggest red flag.

Wagging the rib to gain her attention he sighed. "C'mon Sakura it's already dead...it's not going to put up a fight, you'll totally thank me later." he encouraged her, smoothly.

She wasn't sure why she had to ingest a greasy slab of meat just to get a simple answer but she didn't delete palmers schedule just to come away from this empty handed.

With a sigh of unspoken defeat she reached out to snatch a napkin from beside the bread basket in the center of the table. She covered her palm with the napkin and placed it under Sasoris hold on the rib and he dropped it in her protected palm with a smirk of approval.

"You might just get hooked." He claimed.

She rolled her eyes and ignored him, seeing no point in making small talk for things she had no interest in.

The meat had been heavier than it appeared. It had been heavily doused in a vinegary sauce which had smelled appealing to her deepest doubts. She sniffed it and studdied it's succulant texture before gingerly bringing it to her lips. Sasori watched her raptly, leaning into the table with an expession she couldn't quite decipher. She ignored his strange speculation and chewed idly.

"So...You saw me, where?" She inquired snagging another napkin to dab at the corner of her lip, fighting the nagging urge to take a bigger bite. The meat had surpassed her standards, although they had been quite non-existant from the get go. The taste was foreign to her, juicy and flavorful.

Sasori blanked a few times before lulling back in his seat and raking his nails through his touseled mane of hair. He smirked vacantly as though the whole mystery had just been a ruse to put her health at risk.

"The park." he said disinterestedly, awaiting her to take another bite.

She couldn't believe how strictly he behaved. It had been one thing she had never picked up about him.

She snapped her teeth towards the edge of bone where meat hang off watching his honey eyes remain on her face before he blanked away in favor of looking out the window.

She thought about his answer, feeding her brain the images of the park in hopes that it would somehow generate a memory but she came up with a slight piercing pain in her temple.

She shook her head before a laugh surprisingly lept from her lips. It didn't sound like her laugh, it had been too joyful and careless, it drew the attention of the customers and over powered the television.

Her laughs never did those things.

Sasori looked over at her and smirked amirably leaning into the table.

In that moment her heart seemed too heavy for her chest and the laugh grew much louder. She couldn't stop it and she wasn't sure if she wanted to. A few voices muttered about her but her heartbeat drowned the side conversations out.

Leaning into the table Sasori placed a hand over her hand and he looked into her eyes.

"You ok?"

It had been in the form of a question but she could tell he was simply putting on a show to cut back the attention that she had deservingly gained for laughing like a mad woman. He applied a snakes-grapple of pressure to her hand and he stared her dead in the eyes.

"That's right...focus...focus on the pain, nothing else exist, nothing else feels more real than that...calm down, calm down." he assured her in the most paitently low tone, like a doctor tending to his bed-crazed patient.

_What? I-I'm fine...why is he looking at me like that..._

"I-I'm fine.." she assured him shakily.

_How can I-How can I not remember where I was. I programmed Palmer, I went to bed last night, I-I know I did...I._

A pulse began to thrumb in the back of her head and she felt the napkin clad rib hit the table, her hand tried to nurse the throb away rubbing it wildly. Teeth gritted she stared at Sasori.

"...headache..." she tried to lie, certain that she had never felt a pulse as prominent in that area. He squeezed her hand tighter.

"Listen to me...listen to my voice, imagine that if you don't...everyone in this restaurant could very well die."

She laughed through the skull splitting pain.

_That's a bit drastic.._

"Where is Hyuga? We have to get you to her quick."

With a frown of bewilderment she stared down at palmer, trying to unscramble her knotted mind.

"What? why?"

He laughed bitterly.

"For fucks sake you're a newbie...and she's your anchor and without an anchor a newborn wolf can be a complete butthole and that's putting it mildly...you're not strong enough to control it, without the moon this shouldn't even be happening...so where is Hyuga?"

_Wolf, screw this nonsense...I have a schedule...I have to get back to and an aspirin I have to take. _

"Gone...and it doesn't matter anyway, I won't be feeding into your game." She grunted standing unsteadily and snatching up palmer. It seemed obvious to her that Sasori was simply bored and saw the opportunity to make her feel like a fool while her cousin was away. He was playing with her mind, his whole theory about seeing her last night had just been a ploy to pick with her.

"What...you really think I'd make this up for shits and giggles?" he scrambled out of his seat, following her down the aisle. Occasionally he ushered her by the shoulders from bumping into tables and out of the double doors, people watched curiously.

Vertigo shredded her vision and she stumbled. She could feel something cold crawl down her spine, something under her flesh gnashed and shifted.

She froze hoping that it would stop whatever was happening from progressing.

Sasori smacked up against her from behind and she doubled over feeling bile in her gullet, a sick feeling caused her head to swim and her stomach to lighten.

"This shouldn't be happening...th-this isn't right.." he uttered more to himself. "...if you're turning on your own, there must be...there must be an Alpha in this city and he's calling out, to you...he'll find you, it's only a matter of time, we need to get you out of here."


	5. Chiyo

**A/N- After holidays update. So much happened last year. Here's to this year! I wish all of you the best on your writing and I'm very grateful for those who continue to read my stories. I really really really appreciate everyone who reads and review, also those of you who write stories that I enjoy reading! I hope you like this update. The next one will be a lot longer and a certain alpha might appear...;D**

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><p><em>A small child tucked beneath the bed watched a variety of ankles enter through a door. Her heart pouncing wildly in her tiny chest she lay there, stiff and curled into a ball. <em>

_"I refuse to keep living this way, hitting the ground running all the time I'm sick of it Kizashi. This isn't what I wanted for her...for us!"_

_"Survival is the rule we agreed above anything else, they're coming Mebuki we must be haste."_

_"Our daughter is happy..."_

_"and she'll be happy again but that can't happen if she ceases to exist, we're a pack of three Mebuki...they come in numbers we wont stand a chance and she's just a baby, they'll have no mercy on her...you know that!"_

_The child listened to the distressed tones of her parents voices. Watched her fathers booted feet advance towards her mother but her mothers small feet stumbled away from him and stormed out the door._

_"Mebuki..." her fathers husk voice spoke softly, though it had sounded defeated. His dirt crusted boots were motionless just before twisting around towards the bed. _

_There were tears in the childs eyes. Her heart had been heavy and she slapped a small hand over her lips to stop her wary whimpers but they seeped through her fingers._

_"Princess...that you?"_

_She sniffled but refused to answer. His knees fell to the ground and it wasn't long before she could spot his face. Her fathers jaw went hard but his eyes were just as kind as they always seemed to be. _

_"Babe...I know you're gonna miss all your friends, I know it's hard but..." he awaited her to come rushing to him but when she showed no signs of resolve he groaned and fell to the ground on his stomach. _

_The small child fisted at the tears in her eyes and smacked her pink bangs out of her face. Her father slipped under the bed smoothly, his heavy set body looked almost too big to fit. He scotched until he could put an arm over her and leveled their faces. _

_He scoffed a little. _

_"You're the bravest lil girl I've ever met."_

_Curiously she tilted her head and smirked sadly. Her tiny wet fingers tapped the floorboard as she propped herself up to stare at him. _

_"brwavve...me?" She inquired with a few sniffles, stray tears slipping over the bridge of her red nose. _

_He nodded. "Uh huh...your mother and I, we're so use to being on the road, we forget about our friends but you...you keep them with you everywhere you go...right in there..." he poked her chest playfully and she giggled in spite of her blinding teary-eyes. _

_"...but I'm cwying...like a baby.." she said softly, feeling slightly ashamed. _

_He sighed and swiped her tears away with a heavy thumb. _

_"Just because you're brave, it doesn't mean you can't cry. We'll cry but we will keep moving forward, being brave because one day...we'll find our home. A place where we're truly meant to be. A better place than this..where we never have to run. Do you trust me my little wolf?"_

_With a nod she nuzzled against his warmth and potent aroma and he held his daughter, scrubbing her scalp with his callus finger tips. _

_"Now, go help your mother pack we've got a long day ahead of us."_

_"Yes papa."_

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><p>"Is this a gingerbread house...or a real house? What...what is this part of town..."<p>

"It's a cottage, guess you've never been to my neck of the woods."

Sasori passed her a mug of something steamy and chocolaty. She sniffed it and allowed the hot vapors to touch her face, staring out of the small window inside of Sasori's grandparents cottage.

"Marsh mellow?"

She declined with a small shake of her head.

This part of town seemed very mythical with its lurid lantern lights and street lamp posts. There hadn't been many cars and the amount of mossy terrain and tree's had seemed to double.

"I should be heading home soon...my aunt threatened me this morning." She uttered, examining the blank screen of Palmer thoughtfully.

She twisted around and spotted Sasori sitting on a sofa that had been covered protectively with a sheet of bubble wrap. The material shifted up under his weight and he sat hunched over, staring at her with a raised brow.

"You've got to be kidding me, you were this close to turning into a-an animal and you think I'm just going to let you waltz out of here?"

She stared at him with a raised brow, his tone didn't sound negotiable.

"I had a few stomach cramps...it happens any woman could vouch for me regarding that."

He scoffed and then his face went blank, lulling back against the bubble wrap, one leg crossed very patiently over the other.

"I know you felt it...that animal writhing underneath your fragile human flesh, fighting to get out of you...stop lying to yourself, things will be that much clearer when you do."

His voice had gotten much deeper. There was a howl in the distance and his eyes flickered towards the window. He clapped his two hands together, pointing both his polished index fingers at her.

"Get comfortable...my Gran will be here soon."

"...and if I refuse and call the cops?"

He chuckled, his head fell back onto the sofa and he sighed contently.

"The best part of living in the country is it's faulty services as far as technology is concerned...your cell phone will be far of more use as a calendar than it is as a phone, check."

In disbelief she placed the coffee mug down on the windowsill and jabbed palmer to life.

_Dammit.._

"Why do all this, bring me out here when I was unconscious...what's your game!"

"There are no games here." He raises up his hand as though he were trying to prove that he was empty handed. Gripping palmer tightly Sakura nodded disbelievingly.

"Right, so this isn't something that'll bite me in the ass later on next school year."

"It doesn't have to be, if you cooperate and open your stubborn mind up to the truth."

"Well get to the truth! Because from where I'm standing it seems like a whole lot of bullshit!"

He chuckled some more.

"You sure you don't believe me? The timid girl I sat behind in history class would never utter the words you just said."

Sakura listened to his voice and understood that she had been experiencing an unhealthy amount of anger and impatience. She had known these feelings before but they had never inspired her to act out as recklessly as she had today.

"Why do you even care?"

She inquired, plopping down in a single chair.

He shrugged.

"I met someone like you before. She was scared...lost, she thought herself a monster but all I could see when I looked at her was that she was afraid of herself. She isolated herself from people, from me. There was no way to get into her heart because she lost it, she lost it to that animal and I can't help but to think that if I had tried a little harder. She would be the one sitting here, explaining it to you and not me."

His voice was scratchy and smooth. She had heard his band play at the schools talent show once before, his haunting vocals had always seem to captivate her mostly because every song she's ever heard seemed deeply real to her as though he had experienced a devastating amount of pain and could barely get through any of his songs without dredging up the pain.

But there was one song in particular that she could feel his unease while he sang.

"Your sister..."

He nodded somberly and stared her in the eye.

"You're a lot like her, she went through everything you're going through but at the time. I didn't know what _that_ was. I behaved selfishly, she came to me time after time trying to confide in me but I was careless. Someone more focused on his career than his family. I felt as though I had every right to be self-centered. My parents were the puppets of success and they were rarely in our lives. The only parent I had ever known was my gran. She took Seiko and I in but by then it had been much to late...Seiko and I were practically estranged," His eyes burned holes through the coffee table and he rubbed at his jaw thoughtlessly as he continued his story.

"the wolf, she let it control her as it saw fit to. It changed her in more ways then I can count. Gran made me aware of the situation and as you are now...I was dubious and thought her to be nothing more than a senile old woman but one night...I saw for myself. Seiko had...slaughtered many. Gran had assured me that it hadn't been Seiko but her inner demon...and I wished that I could believe her but every time I looked at her. The Seiko that I knew, was no more...her body mocked the user of it's formal self but Seiko was just a childhood memory."

There had been very few conversations that she had ever had with Sasori, if any, before today. She always thought of him as that one genuine person in a room full of people who all pretended to be something else. He was the guy that could be popular anytime he wished but didn't care to follow the crowd. He walked down his own path and if it had to be a path of loneliness he'd roll with the consequences with no regrets.

"I-I'm sorry..."

He smirked but it didn't seem nearly as convincing.

"...she'll come back once she realizes.."

The sound of a key digging into a door caught them both off guard. Sasori stood to his feet quickly and Sakura followed suite. The wooden nob twisted and a tiny old woman entered, a gust of wind forcing her through. She hurriedly stepped across the threshold and slammed the door behind her with a burdened sigh.

"Take my breath away why dontcha! Jeeze, can't an old crow catch a break!" She shouted angrily.

The young Haruno glanced from the old woman to Sasori. The red haired young man had already been scrambling towards her with a smirk.

"Welcome home gran."

"Sasori, be the good grandson I know you have the potential of being and fetch this ol gal her staff."

"Already on it, oh and gran there's someo-"

"She must be the smelly dog, interfering with my incense."

_Rude.._

Sakura thought to herself. She watched the old woman shimmy her way into the living room, never acknowledging her with a glance or greeting.

"Gran..." Sasori chastised her, appearing down the hall with a long shapely wooden stick in his hold.

His grandmother coughed violently and held out her hand for her guiding staff. She snatched it from his clutches and stumbled slightly.

"My apologies Sakura, she's a bit cranky about formalities."

Sakura shrugged.

"I guess understand." She hadn't been too fond of introductions either.

The gray haired woman chuckled obnoxiously until she exploded into a fit of coughs. Sasori looked after her, patting her back and holding a handkerchief against her lips frowning lips. Sakura watched with a slight twinge of worry. The wrinkles in the old woman's forehead grew depth. Her shoulder length hair pulled away from parts of her face and revealed two liver spots on her face.

"I-is she ok?"

She asked watching Sasori carefully help her to the nearest chair. She could still hear the old woman trying to laugh through her violent coughs.

"Sakura, the mug of cocoa." Sassori demanded with a snap of his polished fingers. Sakura rushed over to the window to recover her mug, she rushed over with it and held it towards the hunched old woman.

The woman's tired black eyes bore into hers and she refused the drink pushing it from her face.

"Dare you..."she coughed. "...letting me to drink a cup that-"

"I haven't drunken it...please...drink it."

Sakura assured her, pushing it towards the old woman's lips.

"She's telling the truth gran, I'd never do that to you."

Her body shook with every cough and she stared at Sakura with an unwavering amount of distrust but she parted her lips for a taste. The peach haired woman tipped the cup and the old woman drink until her coughs eventually subsided.

She breathed heavily for several seconds before leaning back in the wooden chair at the table and tapping her staff on the floorboard of the cabin. Clearing her throat she pats her grandsons fingers that still lingered on her back.

"I am well." She assured him in a stern voice before regarding Sakura with a small shaky grin.

"You! Strawberry short-cake, you look just...like your mother." She cackled.

_My Mother?_

Sakura stared at Sasori and then towards his grandmother. She found it hard to believe that someone so ancient had crossed paths with her parents but the way she had said those words seemed much too fond to dismiss or be dubious of.

Just the simple mention of her mother caused her heart to hitch and her eyes to burn with the threat of fresh tears.

"You knew...m-my mom." She said, forcing down a swallow.

"Knew her?" she said as though it had been a preposterous thing to say. "I raised her when your grandmother passed away."

_Raised her. _

Tears came to her eyes, they felt senseless for a moment but then she realized why she had been crying. The dullness of mourning her parents had made her jaded. It was almost as though they were a dream and everything after them had become a nightmare. After they passed people were so afraid to mention them around her, friends and family pretended that they never existed around her but here was a total stranger.

Telling her, how much she resembled her mother.

Though she had stared in the mirror thousands of times hoping to find eyes that weren't hers. Someone had seen her mother in her, someone had confirmed that they were real and just as quickly.

Someone had confirmed that they were gone, gone forever.

Her breathing hitched and more tears flooded her eyes.

"Sakura.." Sasori reached out to comfort her but his grandmother knocked his hand away with her staff. The old woman heaved herself up out of the chair and placed a hand at Sakura's lower back.

"Come along little one...there are things I promised your mother I would tell you at the right time. Today is as good a time as ever."

_If this woman really did know her mother. That would mean that...Sasori was right, everything he said was right._

Vision blurred, eyes soaked she placed shaky fingers to her skin and for the first time ever she could feel something push back against her. Palmer dropped from her fingers and collapsed on the ground behind her as the old woman ushered her towards the door. She pressed her fingers against sore temples and Sasori's grandmother pat her lower back. She shivered and tried to think past her common mind, the one that told her that things like this were impossible but that wall wouldn't come down. It stood it's ground and made her feel small for ever challenging it's normality.

"Sasori, you lock the door as soon as we part and no later."

"Gran Chiyo, its getting late...be careful, the patro-"

"We'll be back long before curfew and if we're not...don't come after us boy."

"Gra-"

"Don't!"

"As you wish.."

Something about the way he said it, told her that he had no intentions of listening to his grandmother but she didn't see the harm of him being outside but she realized she wasn't in any place to assure anyone of their safety.

Not when there was a part of her that she had never met.


End file.
